World News - Iraq: 3 die as 'worst month' figures revealed July violence the deadliest since March 2003

A bomb ripped through a market in Baghdad's Sadr City on Thursday, another day of carnage in a city under siege by insurgents and people bent on sectarian revenge.Three people were killed and 27 more were wounded when the explosive detonated in Rashaad market, located in the volatile, densely populated eastern Baghdad Shiite slum of Sadr City, a base of support for anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.The strike, one of several across the country, was reported as the Iraqi Health Ministry released new figures that underscore the spike in warfare plaguing Iraq: July was the deadliest month for civilians since the war started in March 2003, figures show.During the month, 3,438 Iraqis were killed -- 1,855 because of sectarian or political violence and another 1,583 from bombings and shootings. Nearly 3,600 Iraqis were wounded, the official said.... http://www.cnn.com

U.S. Marines being investigated in the killings last fall in Haditha of two dozen Iraqis, most if not all of them civilians, appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, The New York Times reported. Pages from an official company logbook of the unit involved in the deaths were missing, and an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone was not given to investigators until a top commander asked for it, two Defense Department officials told the newspaper. The Times posted the story on its Web site Thursday night. Officials told the newspaper that all the pages in the logbook are missing for Nov. 19, the day of the killings, and that those portions had not been found, the officials said. The logbook was meant to be a daily record of major incidents the marines’ company encountered, the Times notes. The Pentagon officials said a report about the Haditha killings does not directly accuse Marines of attempting a cover-up, the newspaper said. The report, based on an investigation by ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/18/iraq/main1909138.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_1909138

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the U.S. government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the Bush Administration disagrees with the ruling and has appealed."We also believe very strongly that the program is lawful," he said in Washington, adding that the program is "reviewed periodically" by lawyers to determine its effectiveness and ensure lawfulness. (Watch Gonzales defend the constitutionality of the domestic spying program -- 1:50)The administration secretly instituted the program after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. It gives the National Security Administration authorization to secretly conduct wiretaps without a court order....http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/17/domesticspying.lawsuit/index.html?section=cnn_us

Hamid Asan Hasan dropped his wallet, and as he stooped to pick it up he spotted the small round object. Curious, he picked that up too. It exploded and blew off part of his hand.The Lebanese army passed out leaflets Thursday to warn residents of south Lebanon to beware of just such weapons. It was too late for Hasan, who was injured Sunday, one day before the cease-fire took hold to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah."The place is full of unexploded ordnance, shells and mortars," said Chris Clark, program manager for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination center in Tyre.But that's not the biggest problem, he said.The most dangerous of the ordnance littering south Lebanon after 34 days of Israeli bombardment are bomblets spewed from cluster bombs packed into Israeli artillery shells, Clark explained....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/17/ap/world/mainD8JIDMFG0.shtml

HILO » The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration are investigating sightings of an object resembling a missile flying over the Hilo Airport area Tuesday morning, Hawaii County Civil Defense said. Reports gave opposite descriptions of its direction and widely varying estimates of its size. The largest estimate was about 12 feet long, and the smallest was one foot. One report said it was headed over the airport's main runway, but another said it was headed north from Hilo, away from the airport. Civil Defense official Lanny Nakano said the federal agencies classified the sighting as unconfirmed. The FBI and TSA did not return requests for comment. Nakano, reading from notes from another Civil Defense official, said it was seen at 10:18 a.m. headed away from the airport. But an eyewitness, who asked that his name not be used, told the Star-Bulletin he saw it heading from the Civic Auditorium area to the Keaukaha area, which would take it over the main runway....http://starbulletin.com/2006/08/17/news/story08.html

The United Nations received substantial offers of troops for Lebanon that may enable it to field an advance force of 3,500 in two weeks, despite France's refusal to provide a large contingent. "I would say the show is on the road," said Mark Malloch Brown, the U.N. deputy secretary-general, after a meeting of more than 40 potential troop contributing nations on Thursday. Deployments by Italy, Spain and Belgium, are key because they can move their forces into Lebanon quickly to meet the 15-day U.N. deadline for the advance contingent. All three nations are studying draft rules of engagement presented at the meeting, participants reported. A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted on August 11 called for a truce and a peacekeeping force to help the Lebanese army supervise the pull-out of Israeli troops from the southern Lebanon after 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Most fighting stopped on Monday....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060818/ts_nm/mideast_dc